Pathways to zero plastic waste in Chinese cities: implications of different disposal options under the zero waste cities policy

The disposal of municipal plastic waste (MPW) is crucial to the sustainable development of cities. China generates a large amount of MPW and the disposal methods vary with the level of urban development. This study analyzed the MPW disposal transformation in six groups of China cities at different development level. The results show that landfill is still the main disposal method in the fourth and fifth tier cities, while incineration has become the dominant disposal method in the higher-tier cities. The speed of transferring from landfill to incineration is faster at the higher-tier cities except the first-tier cities due to the large population and limited land resources. Scenario analysis implies that landfill and interim storage MPW could reduce 25%-35% by enhancing incineration and 51%-57% by enhancing recycling. There is still a big potential for lower-tier cities to enhance its incineration capacity, yet improving the recycling should be a more sustainable pathway especially for higher-tier cities.